Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague. He is very persuasive. I would like him to talk to us about safety on airplanes. Imagine, for example, that a francophone is travelling on Air Canada, or one of its subsidiaries, and, God forbid, there is an accident. If there is an accident and the flight attendants do not speak French, will they save the anglophones? Will the francophones be left in the cabin? I would like to hear what my colleague thinks about that.

Mr. Speaker, I have been on the Standing Committee on Official Languages for a long time. There was a time when instructions were not even offered in French on airplanes. We had to fight at the Standing Committee on Official Languages, to be able to read the instructions, because they said that it was not necessary. They are now available on airplanes. We had to fight in committee to get those instructions.

How does it work now? All of a sudden, the plane drops, they find the tape and play the recording. Or all of a sudden, the plane hits some turbulence, and the flight attendant looks for a different tape. Yes, they have to play a tape. That is ridiculous. You have to hope nothing bad ever happens on the airplane.

But it goes beyond that. There is legislation, and it must be complied with. Whether or not an accident occurs, there is legislation, and they are subject to the Official Languages Act. All we are asking is that the law be respected. Why create laws if—

Pursuant to the order made on Friday, May 14 the question is deemed put and a recorded division is deemed requested.

Call in the members.

And the bells having rung:

This vote will be deferred until the end of government orders today.

It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Don Valley West, Veterans Affairs; the hon. member for Halifax, Maternal and Child Health.

The House will now resume with the remaining business under routine proceedings and we are under the rubric motions. Presenting petitions. The hon. member for Kitchener--Waterloo.

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by residents of my riding of Kitchener--Waterloo and others across Waterloo region. The petitioners express concerns about genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, and call on the Government of Canada to develop a national strategy in this regard.

The first petition is signed by dozens of Manitobans. It is a call against Health Canada's authorization of caffeine in all soft drinks. Health Canada made an announcement on March 19 that beverage companies would now be allowed to add up to 75% of the caffeine allowed in the most highly caffeinated colas to all soft drinks. The soft drinks have been designed and marketed toward children for generations. Canadians already have concerns over children drinking coffee and colas as they acknowledge caffeine is an addictive stimulant. It is difficult enough for parents to control the amount of sugar, artificial sweeteners and other additives that their children consume, including caffeine from colas.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to reverse Health Canada's new rule allowing caffeine in all soft drinks and not follow the deregulation policies of the United States and other countries at the sacrifice of the health of Canadian children and pregnant women.

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, also signed by dozens of Canadians, calls upon the Parliament of Canada to adopt Canada's first air passengers' bill of rights.

In only six months Barack Obama and his transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, have rocketed ahead of Canada by penalizing airlines $27,500 per passenger for tarmac delays over three hours and Mr. LaHood recently charged Southwest Airlines $120,000 for overbooked flights. The Canadian bill of rights would take care of the concerns of passengers.

Once again, the petitioners call upon the government to introduce Canada's first air passengers' bill of rights.

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition signed by dozens of Canadian citizens who live on both sides of the river in the National Capital Region, that is, in the Outaouais and in Ontario. They are calling on the government to create a special immigration measure allowing Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor family members who were personally and directly affected by the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. They are also asking the government to show more flexibility in its definition of the people who can be included in the family class, particularly concerning age.

With respect to the new review mechanism for the RCMP outlined in Budget 2010: (a) what will the mandate of the new organization be; (b) how will the organization be structured; (c) how will the $8 million allocated to the new organization be spent over the next two years, broken down by year and type of expenditure; (d) will the new organization have the ability to subpoena documents and witnesses; (e) will the new organization have the ability to investigate other law-enforcement agencies; (f) will the new organization have the ability to share information with other oversight agencies, and if so, which ones; (g) will the new organization have the ability to independently launch investigations into any aspect of the RCMP's activities; (h) will the new organization have the ability to oversee RCMP intelligence activities; (i) what internal and external consultations have taken place on the structure and powers of the new organization; and (j) how will the new organization relate to the existing RCMP complaints commission?

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, is a strong, accountable organization which can continue to serve and protect Canadians for generations to come.

Although the funding of $8 million over two years for a new civilian review and complaints commission for the RCMP was announced in Budget 2010, the Government of Canada continues its work on the proposal for establishing the new body, including consulting with provinces/territories and key stakeholders. Once the government finalizes the proposal, information on its mandate, organizational structure and responsibilities will be available.

With respect to the Air Passenger Assessment and Security Program: (a) what is the proposed description of the Program; (b) what is the lead department; (c) who is the lead Minister; (d) at what stage is the development of the Program; (e) what is the timeline for the public release of the Program; (f) who has been consulted in the development of the Program; and (g) what relationship does the Program have to the existing “no-fly” list?